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p 2, 1929. J. 5. P ocovf 1,101,9 3

CINEMATOGRAPHIC APPARATUS Filed Aug. 24, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor My April 2, 1929. J. 5. Pocovl CINEMATOGRAPHIC APPARATUS Filed Aug. 24, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIE-i4 Patented Apr, 2 192 UNITED STATES JUAN ses'rnn moon, or BARCELONA, SPAIN.

CINEMATOGRAPHIC APPARATUS.

Application filed August 24, 1922, Serial No. 584,072, and in Spain June 19, 1922.

I The intermittent advance of films in cinematographic apparatus as hitherto known and generally employed is obtamcd by the engagement of. toothed sprockets with the perforations, which are provided for this purpose near the edges of the films, and as these perforations vary in their spacing or in their size, according to the make of him, the teeth of the sprockets which engage the perforations are made conical so as to be adaptable to all films, but it w1ll be understood that the length of film drawn forward at each movement is dependent upon such variations and varies with them, andthat it must correspond to the height of the images on the films.

The necessity for the intermittent feed member to be adaptable to all spacings of the perforations or to all the dilferent heights of images of the films has rendered it 1mpossible up to the present to replace the toothed sprocket as the intermittent feed member; and as the employment of this type of feed member has the disadvantage of producing rapid deterioration of the films by reason of the excessive tension exerted by the teeth on the perforations, the solution of the problcn' of replacement is of great importance;

The invention has for its object to remove the disadvantage attendant upon the use of toothed sprockets for the purpose described.

The means provided according to the invcntion comprise a mechanical arrangement for producing an intermittent feedby periodically gripping and carryingforward the film over a constant distance greater than the distance between centres of successive images on the film, and,-1n COHJLlIlCtlOIl there- .with, toothed sprockets such as before referred to, that is to say, similar to those hitherto employed for producing the feed movement of films by engagement with the perforations in the edges of the films. The sprockets provided in the mechanism according to the present invention, however, are not utilized to effect the actual feed of the film, but serve intermittently to withdraw or lead away the film at each feed movement a distance corresponding to the distance between centrcs of successive images on the film.

As the-intermittent feed member hereinbefore described, feeds on the first stroke, a greater'lengthof film than is withdrawn by the toothed sprockets, there remains anexcess length of film forming a loopor, fold, and

that the loop or stress applied to the films gate D, as usual in subsequent feed movements this loop or fold is alternately disposed between the projection window and the intermittent feed member, and between the latter and the toothed sprockets withdrawing the film, so

fold in the film 1s always included in the length of film carriedforward. ly such means the film is, in each case, actually advanced only after the loop or fold. between the projection window and the intermittent feed member has disappeared, that is to say, after the film has been extended; and as the size of this loop or fold corresponds to the difference between the length of film carried forward by the intermittent feed member and the length of film I withdrawn by the toothed sprockets, it follows that the la er determine the length of film advanced at each feed movement, notwithstanding that they are not themselves the means by which the feed is effected, so that while adaptable to films, whatever the spacing of their perforations, as in apparatus known and in use, there is avoided the severe effected by the I with the lateral perforations in the film.

In Figures 1 and 20f the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, is illustrated the operation of the feed mechanism hereinbefore described.

In Figures 1 and 2, the filmA is represented as passing from betweenthe two rollers B, B to the projection window C and its ratus. E, E represent two members for eng ing the film and which, by means of a suitable arrangement, can be caused to approach or separate one from the other in order to engageor release the film. These gripping members are carried at F at the extremity of lever Gr pivoted atH and which is raised and lowered by means of a cam I and of a counter-acting spring J. v The arrangewhen the feed is I engagement of sprocket teeth in cinemato ra )hic'a) ament of'these parts is such that when the lever the members E, E grip and carry the film downwardly a distance in excess of the dis tance between centres of succ ive images on the film, whereby a loop or fold is formed in the film at M, while the the toothed sprockets K, which engage with the perform tions of the film, withdraw it or conduct it away to an extent corresponding to the distance between centres of successive images on the film, but without exercising appreciable tension upon it. ""i "ith the parts in this disposition, the lever G now effects its upward movement and the gripping members E, E, which now only engage lightly with the film, draw it upward and cause the loop or fold M to be drawn out, whereby a second loop or fold is formed at M (Figure 2) between the gripping members E, E and the projection window and gate C, D. The pressure e crted upon the film in the upward movement of the members E, E is sufficient to allow the loop to be transferred from beuiw the members 13,131 to the desired point above, but insufiicicnt to prevent the passage of the film past the members E, IQ in the upward movement of the latter, after the portion of fi m below them has been drawn taut. lVhen the lever G again descends and when, as a consequence, the grippii'ig members E, E tigg htly engage the film, the latter is fed forward afresh past the projection window and gate only when the loop or fold M has been absorbed, and thus the extent of the feed will be 'hc stroke of the members E, .E by the length of film forming the loop or fold 1H; and as this latter is the difference between the stroke of the members E, E and the length of the film taken up by the toothed sprockets K, it follows that the length of film fed forward past the projection. window at each ii'ltermittent feed movement of the gripping members E, F/ is equal to the length of the film which is withdrawn during each of the intern'iittcnt feed movements by the toothed sprockets K.

Thus, Whatever the disposition and spacing of the perforations of the film, it is fed through a distance equal to the distance between centres of successive images on the film, but without the prejudicial eifect upon the perforations in the edges of the film, which results when the feed is directly effected by the engagement of the perforations by toothed feed sin'ockets In Figures 3 to 5 of the accompanying diagrammatic drawings is represented, by way of example, a practical construction of the feed mechanisnii.

Figure 3 is a side elevation; Figure l is a section on the line 3-3 of F i gore 3, Figure 5 is a eross-section on the line 5 5 of Figure 3 and Figure 6 is a sectional elevation on the line 66 of Figure 5.

The film 1 passes first between two guide rollers 2 and 3, the roller 2 having projecting edges or flanges provided upon their periphery with a projection 4;, which, when it engages the roller 3 causes the said roller to be slightly separated from the roller so that the engagement of the film 1 between the two rollers ceases intermittently each time that the said film is to be fed forward past the projection window, and for this purpose the spindle 8 of the roller 2-5 may be pivotally i-suspended from the spindle 9.

The film then passes between the member IZ-t), which serves as guide and in which is provided the projection window, and the frame or gate kit which is provided with a corre sponding opening coincident with the projection window. The film passes then between the gripping members 5 and (3, of which the member is pivoted at 7 to a guide member 28 in which the member 5 is slidably mounted. The member ti is maintained in position aegiinst the guide member 28 by means of a spring catch 10.

The guide member :38 with the gripping member 6 are mounted upon an arm it which provided at the forward end. with extensions ll above and below to which extensions the guide member 28 is secured. The arm ll is pivoted upon the spindle l2, and is oscillated by means of a cam or eccentric 13 mounted upon a spindle $323 carried rotatably in the fixed frame of the apparatus, which cam or eccentric operates in a containing casinn 14; on the arm 11 which casin r shown broken in Figure 3 and in section in Figure 4;; atension spring); 15 serves to cause the arm ll to follow the cam 13.

An eccentric 16 also mounted upon the spindle 33 operates a rod 17, which traverses a boss 18 againstwhich one of the extremities l9 and 20 f the respective ends is applied, the other being applied against the nuts 21 and 22 which are screwed upon the rod 17.

The boss 18 projects through a slot 23 provided in the arm 11 whereby it capable of movement long itudinally along); the arm, and

is connected to a rod or slid e 524 having an extension to which the gripping, member 5 is secured.

In the drawings the parts are shown in the position in which the member 5', and the blocks 2910f the mcn'iber 6 are gripping the film and the arm 11 h as effected half its down ward movement. The movement of the eecentric 16 is resiliently communicated to the slide 24 through the springs 19 and 20 hearing against opposite sides of the boss 18 fixed to the slide 2st. The actual movement of the slide 2 is determined in one direction by the engairement of the member 5 against the member 6 with the interposition of the film, and in the other direction may be determined by the countacting; pressures of the two springs 19 and 252. Thus, each time that the eccentric 16 effects themovement of the rod 17 from the left to the right, the spring 19 is compressed between the nut 21 and the boss 18, and the spring 20 opens out between the boss 18 and the nut 22, the said boss causing the rod or slide 2st to be moved from the left to the right, and consequently causing the gripping member 5 to be separated from the other gripping member 6, whereby the film 1 which passes between the two gripping members 5, 6 is released. hen the eccentric 16 causes the movement of the rod 17 from the right to the left, the operations are reversed, and the gripping member 5 is moved towards the gripping memberfi to engage the film between them.

The period when the film 1 is released by the gripping members 5, 6 coincides with the upward movement of the arm 11, and the period when the film 1 is gripped between the gripping members 5, 6 coincides with the downward movement of the arm 11. Thus an intermittent feed of the film is effected for the purpose of producing the successive changes of images and to secure cinematographic effects.

The first part of the film drawn forward by the members 5, 6 is moved in part by the toothed sprockets 27 which receive an intermittent movement from a Maltese cross mechanism (not represented in the drawing) ofknown kind, and these sprockets 27 guide and withdraw the film 1 each time to an extent exactly corresponding to the distance between centres of successive images on the film, and as the members 5, 6 have drawn the film forward to a greater extent than the sprockets 27, there remains formed at 1' a loop or fold equivalent to the excess length of film.

It is necessary that this loop or fold of the excess length of film should be transferred to a position above the members 5, 6 between the latter and the projection window 30. This is attained by providing upon the member 6 two blocks 29 slidably carried therein and pressed forward by a spring26 secured to a boss upon the member 6 by a screw 26 to fol low the movements of the member 5 and to ellect permanent engagement of the film with a pressure justsufilcient to permit the film to be drawn upwardly, when the arm 11 rises, and the gripping member 5 is withdrawn by the action of the cam 16, until the loop or fold in the fihn below the members 5, 6 has been extended. The pressure exerted by the spring 26 is such that as soon as the slackness represented by the loop or fold 1 is taken up, the resistance of the film itself then causes the film to slide between the blocks '29 and the member 5, since the spring 26 is not sufiiciently strong to overcome the said resistance. In this manner the loop or fold 1' in the film is transferred to a position above the members 5, 6 as indicated in Figure 2, and the succeeding feed of the film past the projection window will not be efiected by the members i 5 and b when the arm 11 descends until the film is extended so that thus, the succeeding teed movement will cause the advance of the film only to an extent equivalent to the travel of the members 5, 6 less the length oi the loop or told 1. By such means-the extent to which the lilm is "fed past the projection window at each feed movement is determined by the toothed sprockets 21", while the actual feed 01 the film is eli'ect'ed by the members 5, 6 upon the arm 11.

As previously stated, the construction described is given by way oi example only, since the method of efi'ecting the feed can be embodied in various constructions iwithont departing from the invention.

I claim I 1. ln cinematographic apparatus, mechanism for obtaining the intermittent feed of the film,comprising a positive feed device, means adapted to operate said positive teed device intermittently to feed the film to an extent corresponding to the distance between the centres 01' successive images on the film, film gripping elements, a member disposed above said positive feed device and carrying said film gripping elements, means adapted to reciprocate said-member so that said film gripping elements rise and fall to an extent greater than the distance between the centres of successive images on the film, means adapted t ooper-ate said film gripping elements to grip the film on movement of the member c 'ying the said elements in the direction oi feed of the film towards the posi tive feed device so as to form a slacl: part of the film between said film gripping elements and said positive feed device, and to release the film on movement of the said member carrying the said elements in the reverse di rection, and means upon said film gripping elements adapted to engage the film by itric tion so as to transfer the s ick part of the film to a position abovesaid film gripping elements on movement of the member carrying the said elements in the reverse direction, substantially as described.

In cinematographic apparatus, mechanism for obtaining the intermittent teed oi the .illl11, comprising film gripping elements, a pivoted arm disposed above said positive teed device andcarrying said film gripping elements, means adapted to reciprocate said pivoted arm so that said film gripping elements rise and fall to an extent greater than the distance between centres 01 successive images on the fihn, m ans adapted to operate said film gripping elements to grip the film on movement or a pivoted arm in. the direction of feed of the, film towards the positive feed device, so as to "term a slack part of the film between thesaid film gripping elements and said positive tteed device and to release the film on movement 01' the said pivoted arm in l. l l) the reverse direction, and means upon said tilni gri ppiug elements adapted to engage the lilm by triction so as to transfer the slack part ot the lilm to a position above said lihn ,a' ippiug ciements on movement of the pivoted arm in the reverse direction, substantially as described.

2'}. In cinematographic apparatus, mechanism tor obtaining the intermittent feed 01" the lihn, comprisii o tihn gripping elements, apivoted arm di, JOSGCl above said positive iced device and carrying said lihn gripping elements, a rotary clement adapted to reciprocate said pivoted arm so that said lihn gripping elements rise and fall to an extent greater than the distance between centres of successive images on the lihn, means adapted to operate said lihn gripping ele ments to grip the lilm on movement of a pivoted arm in the direction oi? teed ot the tilm towards the positive teed device, so as to term a slael-i part of the lilm between the said lilin gripping elements and said positive teed device and to release the lilm on movement of the said pivoted arm in the reverse direction, and means upon said tilm gripping elements adapted to engage the lilm by iiriction so as to transfer the slack part of the lihu to a position above said film gripping elements on movement of the pivoted arm in the reverse direction, substantially as described.

et. in cinematographic itppttl'tttUS, mechanism for intermittently feeding the film, comprising lilm gripping elements, a pivoted arm carrying said tilm gripping elements, a cam operatively connected to said pivoted arm for etllecting its reciprocation, a sl de carried by said pivoted arm and to which one of said titm gripping elements is connected, an cecentric connected to said slide for its reciprocation upon one of the lilm gripping elements, means upon said pivoted arin adapted permanently to engage the lilm by friction, a positive teed device situated in advance of said .lihn gripping elements, and means for operating said positive teed device intermittently to teed the lihn to an extent correspending to the distance between the centres of successive images on the tilm, substantially as described.

5. In cineniatograpl 'c apparatus, mechanism'tor intermittently "feeding the lilm, comprising lilm gripping elements, a pivoted arm upon which one ot the lilin gripping elements is mounted in fixed position, a slide carried by said pivoted arm and upon which the other of said lilm grippin elements is mounted, moans upon one o't aid lilin gripping elements adapted permanently to engage the tilm by friction with the other off the said tilm gripping elements, a cam operatively connected to said pivoted arm for eil'ecting its reciprocation, an eccentric connected to said slide tor its reciprocation upon said pivoted arm, a positive teed device situated in advance or said tiln'i gripping elements, and means adapted to operate said positive feed device intern'iittently to teed the film to an extent cin'rcsponding to the distance between the centr s (it successive images on the lilin, substantially as described.

(3. In cinematographic apparatus, 'meehanism for intermittently feeding the iilm comprising film gripping elements, a pivoted arm upon which one of the lilm grippirr elements is mounted in lined position, a slide carried by said pivoted arm and upon which the other of said tilin gripping elements is mounted, means upon one of said lilm gripping elements adaptcd pern'ianently to engage the tihn by friction with the other of the said tihn gripping elements, a cam operatively connected to said pivoted arm for ettecting its reciprocation, an eccentric connected to said slide for its reciprocation upon said pivotcd arm, toothed sprocke s situated in advance of said tilm gripping elements, and means adapted to operate said toothed sprockets intermittently to teed the film to an extent corresponding to the distance between centres of successive images on the film, substantially as described.

JUAN si. Pooovif. 

